I have been looking at this and a few other games Matrix and others have covering the PTO in WWII. Nothing else even comes close to the scope and magnitude of this game. Add the scenario building capability, campaign replay, force/equipment/map editing capability and I am sure many things I have not yet discovered that can be done with this Superb Game Engine and IMHO it is worth every penny.

I'm already close to 50 cent per hour played in just one month. factor in my free time spent daydreaming about AE and the cost per hour is much lower. "Nothing else even comes close", I agree without a doubt.

I cant really compare games like to to the MMORPG Genre. Major differences. I and my children run several, Aces High II, World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot, Fighter Ace... in those I cant sit around a sip a Beer or a Scotch n Water (Ice cube floating in the Scotch) and think about what I might do and how I might accomplish it etc... Those games are for After I have had a few Beers or Scotch n Water's

But I do agree with the analysis of $/Time Played. Like some weekends BOBII WOV or Steel Panthers WAW pays for itself more than once... and then some months its very expensive..

But I can see how to someone that really does not have the frame of reference as to how this game compares to most of the strat games out there it can initially have some sticker shock. I mean lets get real here, the vast majority of the stuff out there is pure crud plain n simple. Not many games out there really draw a crowd because you can spend 3 weeks working out the plans, details and all just to have 1 Game day run off. I mean the Mainstream is not into games like this. IMHO most of the Mainstream is into like a suitcase next to the couch with Halo 3 on the Xbox. Their most pressing strategic concerns are things like how long will that suitcase of cheap beer stay cold enough to drink and not taste any worse than it already does...

Agreed, it's like comparing Monopoly and any good old Avalon Hill / SPI wargames. Video games are today's easy Monopoly, CLue...games. We are the AH /SPI crowd that are seen as being a bit over there , way over there!

As the original creator of the Thread, I am happy to say that I pulled the trigger and ordered the game (I got a bonus today and thought that I should indulge myself even if is on the lower side due to the economy) , the game is 30% away from finishing downloading. I am looking forward to play the game and this would be my first videogame of good complexity.

As the original creator of the Thread, I am happy to say that I pulled the trigger and ordered the game (I got a bonus today and thought that I should indulge myself even if is on the lower side due to the economy) , the game is 30% away from finishing downloading. I am looking forward to play the game and this would be my first videogame of good complexity.

Well looks like the download has completed...so here I go

Oh no...may God have mercy on your soul. Please let us know how your self-inflicted loss of anything remotely resembling social interaction with family, friends or coworkers goes for you.

As the original creator of the Thread, I am happy to say that I pulled the trigger and ordered the game (I got a bonus today and thought that I should indulge myself even if is on the lower side due to the economy) , the game is 30% away from finishing downloading. I am looking forward to play the game and this would be my first videogame of good complexity.

As the original creator of the Thread, I am happy to say that I pulled the trigger and ordered the game (I got a bonus today and thought that I should indulge myself even if is on the lower side due to the economy) , the game is 30% away from finishing downloading. I am looking forward to play the game and this would be my first videogame of good complexity.

Well looks like the download has completed...so here I go

Official Patch 1 should be out next week. In the meantime I'd just take in the initial Scenario 6 (beginning with allied turn 12/08/41) and look around while reading the manual. Lot's to learn (I'm still learning and will be for months.)